


Love Around The Holiday Tree

by hoffkk



Series: The 12 Days of Ficmas [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Christmukkah, F/M, holiday tree, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 20:02:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12919239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoffkk/pseuds/hoffkk
Summary: On the first day of Ficmas, hoffkk gave to me... Love Around The Holiday Tree!





	Love Around The Holiday Tree

Felicity sat quietly at the dining room table, staring at the present in front of her.  She admired her handiwork as she raked her eyes over the small square box covered in red and green striped paper.  The corners were folded perfectly and a green bow sat neatly on top.  It was definitely her best wrap job to date, but it wasn't the outside of the box she was worried about.  No, the pit in her stomach was solely formed based on the contents inside.  The idea came to her today at work: the perfect holiday gift for Oliver. She had been so excited about it all day, but now that it was all wrapped up and ready, she was having second thoughts.  Maybe it was too cheesy.  Maybe he wouldn't like it.  Or maybe... maybe she just wasn't ready to give him this particular present quite yet.

As she groaned in frustration, she heard a door open and shut.

"I'm home!" Oliver's voice rang out.

Instead of replying, Felicity grabbed the present and jumped to her feet, looking for somewhere to hide it.

"Felicity?  William?" Oliver called out as he entered the kitchen in search for his fiancée and son.

"Hey." Felicity spoke sweetly as she rushed to hide the gift behind her back.  "How was your day?"

"Good."  Oliver answered none-the-wiser, giving her a quick kiss.  "Where's William?"

"He's in the living room with Zoe."  Felicity answered, smoothing out the fabric of her dress nervously.  "They were finishing decorating the Christmas tree."

"Holiday tree." He corrected, taking her free hand and kissing her knuckles before leading her down the hallway to the living room.

Felicity could help but smile.  She loved how respectful and inclusive he was of her Jewish heritage, especially at this time of year.  He rarely used the words Christmas or Hanukkah.  Oliver almost always said holiday: holiday party, holiday gifts, holiday _tree_. One of the many things she loved about him.

As they reached the living room, the couple stopped in the doorway, watching the scene play out in front of them.  Sure enough, William was in there with Rene's daughter, Zoe.  They were decorating the tree and listening to "Jingle Bell Rock" on the music television channel as they talked and laughed.  It was such a precious sight, especially when the preteens reached for an ornament at the same time and brushed their finger tips together.  They both jerked backed immediately and blushed then quickly went back to decorating.

"How cute are they?" Felicity asked rhetorically as they kept watching the kids.  They hung a few more ornaments, and then, as the music faded into a slow rendition of "Somebody's Angel," William followed Zoe's lead and laid down on the floor.  Once the teens were staring at the ceiling in supine position, they scooted upward and slid their heads underneath the tree to look at it from below.

"What are they doing?" Oliver whispered.

"Taking in their hard work from a new angle."  Felicity explained simply, remembering how she used to do the same thing to admire the lights and ornaments on her friends' trees when she was young.  Never having one herself, since her family celebrated Hanukkah rather than Christmas, she had always enjoyed seeing them wherever she could.  There was just something so magical about them.

"Ah." Oliver nodded in understanding.

"Oh, look."  Felicity gestured with a nod of her own and a slight smirk.

Returning his gaze to his son, Oliver noticed William's left hand moving little by little, closing the gap between him and Zoe.  Finally, his hand found hers, and he squeezed it gently.  Zoe welcomed the gesture, threading her fingers easily through his.

As the kids laid there with their hands intertwined, Felicity bit her lip to hold back a squeal, wishing she could see their faces right now.  Their cheeks had to be rosier than Santa's Suit.  Peering over at Oliver, she noticed his facial expression change from happy to something wistful as he let out a soft sigh.

Bumping his shoulder with hers, she questioned, "Hey, what's wrong?  You worried about Rene being an in-law someday?" She added teasingly.

"No, it's nothing like that."  He told her with a lopsided smile.  "It's just... apparently, he's ready for his first girlfriend."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Felicity queried.

"Yes," He relented.  "but it's just another reminder of how fast he's growing up and of how much of his life I've already missed out on."

"I get it, you won't ever get back those early years with William, and that sucks, but you still have right now _and_ plenty more years to come." She pointed out. 

"Only five, then he will be off to college and starting his own life."  He tossed back.

"Yes, he most likely will be going to college and most definitely will have a life of his own one day, but when that _does_ happen, he's not going to just stop being your son." Felicity assured him.

"I know that deep down." He replied.  "I guess I just wish that I would have known about him sooner... that I could have _been there_ for him sooner."

Felicity's heart broke and swelled all at the same time as she listened to his words.  All her worry from before was suddenly gone, and she knew that this was the moment.  She was ready and pretty sure that he was ready too.

"Here." She said softly, lifting the small box into view and holding it out to him.

Oliver took the box and arched a brow as he inquired, "What is it?"

"Your Christmukkah present." Felicity answered vaguely.  "Open it."

"But it's not Christmas yet." He stated obviously.  "Or Hanukkah."

"I know, but this can't wait until then and neither can I."  She told him as she nervously tucked some loose hair behind her ear.

"Okay."  He relented then began tearing off the wrapping.  Once it was all off, he shoved the remnants of paper into his suit jacket pocket and took in the small white box that sat in his hand.  Carefully removing the lid, Oliver brushed aside a layer of tissue paper, revealing a tree ornament.  It was a small gold shoe with a white chiffon ribbon at the top.  Feeling confused, he looked at Felicity.

"A tennis shoe?"

She just smiled and said, "Look closer."

Oliver obliged, picking the ornament up by its ribbon and letting it dangle in the air.  It was indeed a tiny shoe.  However, there was a heart-shaped charm hanging off the side of it that he hadn't noticed before.  Rotating the ornament, he read aloud the words etched in the middle of the heart.

"Baby's first Christmas?" He queried.

"Yeah,"  She replied.  "I would have went with baby's first _holiday_ , but I couldn't find one, and, believe me, I tried.  I went to, like, ten different stores today.  There were some Hanukkah ones, but they weren't as pretty, and besides, this was for you, and you are the Christmas side of our Christmukkah holiday so--

"Felicity." Oliver cut her off, emphasizing each syllable of her name.  "Why are you giving me this?" He wondered aloud, wanting confirmation of what _he_ thought the ornament meant.

"Well, I know you sort of missed out on raising a child once, but, as it turns out, you're about to get another chance." Felicity paused, took a deep breath, then finally said the words out loud.  "I'm pregnant."

"Really?" He found himself asking, partly in shock, partly in excitement.

"Yes." She smiled.

Oliver barely had time to smile back before pulling his fiancée into his arms and showing her just how happy he was to hear this news.

As soon as their lips met, Felicity felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.  She was incredibly happy that he was so happy, and for the first time, she felt truly excited about taking this next step in their life together.

Pulling back slightly, Oliver left a hand on her cheek and his forehead pressed against hers as he whispered, "I love you."

"I love you, too." She whispered back then gave him another quick peck on the lips.

"Hey, dad." William interrupted as he entered the hallway.

"Hey, kiddo." Oliver replied.  He was still not quite used to being called the "d" word, at least not _that_ "d" word, but apparently that was going to change and _soon_ , much sooner than he ever would have expected.  "What are you guys up to?"

"I'm going to teach William how to make popcorn garland."  Zoe answered.

"We do have popcorn, right?"  William asked hopefully, looking between his father and soon-to-be stepmom.

"In the pantry." Felicity nodded.

"Sweet." William answered before continuing down the hallway with Zoe in tow.

"So... how do you want to tell William?" Felicity questioned quietly, figuring he was the next one on the need-to-know list.

Oliver, knowing exactly what she was referring to, thought for a moment then said, "I don't know, but probably not with this."

Watching him lift the ornament into the view once again, Felicity understood.  "Yeah, well... no worries, we can just hide it until next year."

"Actually," Oliver responded with a cheeky grin.  "I have a better idea.  Come, on."  He urged, leading the way into the living room. 

They made their way over to the holiday tree where he dropped the small, white box he had been holding into the plastic storage bin for ornaments.  Glancing back at the golden ornament in his other hand, he smiled sweetly at what he now understood to be a bootie, a _baby_ bootie... for _his_ baby, the baby he made with Felicity.  Oliver felt like his heart was going to explode with euphoria.  It was all so surreal.  Sighing in contentment, he took a step forward and hung the ornament around the side of the top part of the tree. Stepping back, he put an arm around Felicity, and together they stared at the tree.  It was perfect, hidden in plain sight, totally unnoticeable among the other bulbs and decorations unless you knew it was there.

"Merry Christmukkah." Felicity said as she leaned her head on Oliver's shoulder.

"Merry Christmukkah." He repeated with a grin then turned to kiss the side of her head. 

They continued to stand there for a long blissful moment until a familiar boyish voice called out to them.

"Do you like it?" William asked as the kids re-entered the room, each with their own giant bowl of popcorn.

"It looks fantastic." Felicity replied as she and Oliver turned to look at the teenagers.

"You guys did a very nice job."  Oliver agreed.

"Wanna help us with the garland?" Zoe asked excitedly.

"Sure." Oliver nodded then headed to the large sofa sectional where the four of them sat and began to string popcorn.  For the next hour, they talked and joked around and ate more popcorn than they actually strung, causing them to have to make two more bags.  Eventually, though, they managed to finish the task then decided to order Chinese take-out for dinner.  The four of them ate family style in front of the television, watching the 2000 version of _How the Grinch Stole Christmas._ As they did so, Oliver felt happier than he had in a long time.  He quite liked this family of four thing, and, by the end of the movie, as Zoe slept against his shoulder and snored softly, he realized something else.  Looking from Zoe to the tree across the room and back, he realized that he really liked the idea of having a daughter.

Daughter or son, girl or boy... deep down, it didn't _really_ matter to Oliver.  Either way, a baby Smoak-Queen was on the way and _that_ was the best Christmukkah gift he could have ever asked for.


End file.
